Arrangement for securing a picking stick on a loom



Jan. 31, 19 67 H. ZOLLINGER- ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING A PICKING STICK ON A LOOM Filed Nov. 19, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 i A so &1'

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ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING A PICKING STICK ON A LOOM s Sheets-Shet 2 I Filed Nov. 19, 1964 Fig.2

Jan. 31, 1967 H. ZOLLINGER ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING A PICKING STICK ON A LOOM I Filed Nov. 19, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent O The present invention relates to an arrangement for securing a picking stick of a weaving apparatus, i.e., a loom with a guide member. i

It is known to provide on looms picking stick guides having means for controlling the movement of the picking stick in such manner that the picker disposed at theupper end of the picking stick describes a practically horizontal,

rectilinear path during the time during which it contacts the shuttle, so as to drive the latter through the warp thread shed.

Many devices of this kind have the disadvantage that,

during the driving of the shuttle and during the stopping of the shuttle, undesirable material oscillations are produced along the picking stick.

In known designs, the picking stick is conventionally connected to a guide member by means of one or more screws. These devices have the further disadvantage that the said connecting screws are ruptured again and again during the operation of the loom.

The invention obviates these disadvantages by providing a securing means which resiliently couples the picking stick with a guide body to allow movement in the direction outward of or away from the center of the loom.

The invention has furthermore the advantage that, when the shuttle impinges on the picker, the lastphase of the shuttle-arresting process is improved, that is, the exact location of arrest thereof is subjected to smaller variations. I

It is already known to use resilient material in weaving looms. In the known devices, such resilient material is used for a restoring spring or in order to achieve resiliency in the case of mechanical stressing, but it is not used for suppressing or avoiding oscillations along the picking stick. 5

A plurality of embodiments of the invention will now be described in greater detail in the following description,

with reference to the accompanying drawings, 'wherein:

FIGURE 1 shows a partly sectioned'elevation of a picking stick securing arrangement according to the in-.

vention;

FIGURE 2 shows an elevation of a further embodiment of a picking stick securing arrangement;

FIGURE 3 shows a section taken along the line IIIIII 11 is carried periodically towards the left, that is, toward the center of the loom, by a band 12 retained in its position by support member 30. By this means, and by means of a picker 28 secured on the upper end .of. the picking stick 11, shuttle 13 is driven over sley 14 and throughthe open shed onto the left-hand side of the loom from which,

it is again sent back after the shed change has taken place. The returning shuttle 13 is caught by the picking stick 11 upon which it impinges at high-speed. This causes the picking stick 11 to impinge on a yieldingly arrangedreceiving member 29. The picking stick 11 is, during around the periphery of the recess.

U assure Patented Jan. 31, 1961 its reciprocating movement, so guided by guide member 15 that the picker 28 moves parallel to the sley 14 at least during the time during which it contacts the shuttle The guide member 15 comprises a guide body 16 carried by articulated rods 17 and 18 which are secured to strip 79' attached to the guide body. The rod 17 pivotal. about a pivot 78 on the strip 79 and is pivotally secured for movement about pivot 19 on a machinewall 20 which is moved with the sley 14. correspondingly, the

rod 18 is secured for pivoting about a pivot 21 on the strip 79 and for pivoting about apivot 22 secured to the machine wal120.

The body 16 has rotational symmetry and has a trougha like recess 23 limited by a raised portion 24 which extends A lamina 25, which is bent over at its outer edges, is firmly secured on the guide body 16 by means of four screws, of which the screws 26a, 26b, and 26c are shown. Formed in the center of the lamina 25 is' an aperture in which there is arranged a screw 27 that extends through a corresponding bore in the picking stick 11 and that secures the lamina 25 firmly to the picking stick 11.

By means of the arrangement described, the lamina 25 is to a certain degree resilient toward the right (as shown in FIGURE 1) i.e., in a direction away from the center of the loom. This resiliency allows the picking stick 11 to move outwardly from the guide body 16 to a direction substantially parallel to the axis of screw 27, i.e., in a direction corresponding substantially to the direction of I travel of the shuttle before being stopped by the picking In addition, the arrangement of the lamina 25 and the guide body also provides a rigid connection between the picking stick and the guide body which prevents movement of the lower portion of the picking stick toward the guide body ifaforce acts on the picking stick from the right (as shown in FIGURE 1) in a direction parallel to theaxis of screw 27 toward the center of the,

loom; for example, when the picking stick is moved towards the center of the loom by band 12.

It will be appreciated that the rigid connections are,

obtained because the material used for lamina 25 is not a decidedly resilient material and also because the material has arelatively small thickness so that compression thereof is practically unnoticeable. Furthermore, it will, be recognized that the rigidity of the connection between the picking stick and the guide body in a direction towards the center of the loom, that is, towards the left as shown.v in FIGURE 1, serves to pfevent any loss of impact;

strength during driving of the shuttle.

If, in the operation of the weaving loom, the shuttle 13 is driven over the sley 14 by the picking stick 11 and if the arriving shuttle 13' is caught by the picker 28, then mechanical oscillations are set up along the picking stick 11. The securing arrangement described herein above and illustrated in FIGURE 1, for coupling the picking stick 11 with the guide body 16'has the advantage that the said oscillations'travelingalong the picking stick are absorbed by the securing means comprising the parts 15 25, and 27, or at least are reflected only to a considerably reduced extend. With this arrangement, the travel of the shuttle is made more uniform and the rest position of .the shuttle, after impinging on the picker 28, is subjectedv tovariations which are smaller than those in corresponding machines which have not been fitted with the above-- described securing means according to this invention. As can be seen from FIGURE 1, the head offlthe screw 27 does not contact the guide body 16, but is spaced apart from the latter, so that there is no dire-ct coupling between these parts. This feature, in addition to the resilient coupling on the lamina 25, appears to be the reason why the device described either eliminates oscillations traveling to and fro along the picking stick, or at least considerably damps them. For example, rubber having fabric layers embedded in the longitudinal direction has been found to be suitable for the lamina 25.

FIGURES 2 to show further embodiments of the present invention. In these figures, the parts shown in the upper portion of FIGURE 1 (lug strap 12, with support member 30, shuttle 13, sley 14, picker 28 and receiving member 29) have been omitted. Furthermore, the picking stick has again been given the reference numeral 11, the guide member the reference numeral 15, and the guide body the reference numeral 16. Furthermore, in FIGURES 2 and 5 the articulated rods have again been designated 17 and 18 and the pivots 78 and 21.

According to FIGURES 2 and 3, the picking stick 11 is surrounded and retained by a flexible band or belt 31 made, for example, of leather. The band 31 is secured on the guide body 16 by means of screws32a, 32b, and 320 and is joined to the picking stick by means of the screw 33. Due to the latter screw 33, the'position of the picking stick is fixed in the direction of the picking stick axis. The slot 35 formed in the picking stick 11 at the place at which the screw 33 is located, serves for the exact adjustment of the picking stick in the vertical direction along its axis.

On the other hand, the horizontal slots 34a, 34b, and 340 formed in the band-31 permit the accurate adjustment of the coupling of the picking stick 11 with the guide body 16. Between the guide body 16 and the picking stick 11, fast with the former, is an intermediate member 36 which is made of substantially non-resilient material. By means of this described arrangement, a construction is produced which retains the picking stick 11 rigidly in the direction of its axis but resiliently perpendicular thereto, in the-direction towards the right (as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3) that is, outward of or away from the center of the loom. i

The coupling is also rigid perpendicular to the axis of the picking stick: in the direction towards the left as shown that is, toward the center of the loom. By way of example, it may be stated that satisfactory operational results have been attained with an arrangement wherein the resiliency of the coupling in'the direction towards the guide body 16 amounted to approximately 1:14 relatively to the resiliency in the opposite direction.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 2, the shuttle is on the left-hand-side (designated S) of the picking stick 11. When-the shuttle is received by the picker of the picking stick 11, the latter is displaced towards the right as shown that is, in the direction substantially corresponding to the travel of the shuttle before being received by the picker. In consequence of the resilient coupling between the picking stick 11 and the guide member whichis provided by the band 31, the picking stick 11 is at least partially released from the intermediate member 36. Consequently, as in the case of the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1, oscillations along the picking stick are absorbed or greatly damped at the lower end of the picking stick and reflections of the oscillations are at least greatly reduced. The intermediate member 36 may be made, for example, of leather, plastic, hard wood, or hard rubber. By this means, wear of the picking stick 11 and of the guide body 16 is greatly reduced.

The embodiment according to FIGURE 4 is similar to that of FIGURE 1. According to FIGURE 4, however, 'the guide member 15 no longer comprises two articulated levers but a roller 42 and a slot 47 by means of which the guide member is retained on a plate '41 which is fast with the weaving-loom sley. Furthermore, the support body 16 does not have rotational symmetry,

4 but is of rectangular cross-section, similar to the shape of the support body used in accordance with FIGURE 2. During the actuation of the picking stick 11, the roller 42 mounted on pivot 43 is guided along slot 44 in plate 41 and the slot 47 in the projecting part 46 slides along pin 45 secured on the plate 41. Three strips 50a, 50b, and 50c made of rubber fabric are secured by means of screws 48a and 48b over the support body 16. The expression rubber fabric is to be understood to mean fabric layers joined together by rubber. The support body 16 is again formed with a trough-like recess 51.

A screw 52 for retaining the picking stick 11 on the strips 50a, 50b, and 500 is on the one hand mounted on a base 54 and on the other hand screwed fast to a retaining member 53. The retaining member 53 extends within the trough 51 over a predetermined zone along the strip 50a but is spaced apart from the support body 16. Due to the tension of the contact zone between the retaining member 53 and the strip 50a, the advantage of a more balanced pressure loading of the strips 50a, 50b, and 590 is achieved. Due to the resilient coupling between the guide member 15 and the picking stick 11 in the direction parallel to the screw axis towards the right (as shown in FIGURE 4) that is, in a direction outward of or away from the center of the loom, the already-mentioned advantages according to the invention are again achieved. In this example, the shuttle is also on the left-hand side (designated S) of the picking stick 11.

The embodiment according to FIGURE 5 again has a picking stick 11 and a guide member 15 carried on pivots 78 and 21 by articulation means, the guide member 15 comprising a support body 16. Disposed between the picking stick 11 and the support body 16 is an intermediate member 61 which is fast with the picking stick 11 and which is provided with a projecting raised portion 62. The guide body 16 has, on the side facing the intermediate member 61, a recess fitting exactly onto the raised portion 62. A pin 63 extendsthrough the picking stick 11, the intermediate member 61 and the guide body 16 for the purpose of coupling these parts. The pin is provided at the end remote from the picking stick with a screw 64 by means of which a spring 65 is clamped under pressure against the guide body 16 coaxial with respect to the pin 63, so that the parts 16 and 61 are pressed together with mutual contact along their common contact face.

On impingement of the shuttle from the side designated S of the picking stick (see FIGURE 5) the contact is interrupted between at least one part of the contact face of the parts 16 and 61, and is accompanied by yielding of the spring 65, thus providing a resilient coupling which assures the achievement of the advantages according to the invention. The raised portion 62 and the associated recess in the guide body 16 provide for the exact maintenance of the position of the picking stick 11 in the direction of its axis.

It is obvious that the principle of the fixing of the picking stick position by means of raised portions fitting into associated recesses could be used also, for example, with the embodiment according to FIGURE 2. By means of the screw 64, the pressure of the spring 65 can be adjusted in any desired manner, i.e. in a manner for optimum efiiciency.

Instead of one of the raised portions 62, it would also be possible to provide a multiplicity of raised portions along the contact faces of the parts 16 and 62 to constitute a contact arrangement; for example, the contact faces could be provided with grooves extending in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawings which would fit one upon the other.

In place of the spring 65, it would be possible to clamp a tubular, resilient material, under pressure, between the parts 64 and 16. I

With regard to the material used for the intermediate member 61, substantially what was stated in connect-ion with the intermediate member 36 in FIGURE 2 applies. In the case of the embodiments described with reference to FIGURES 1 and 4, the material used for the lamina 25 or for the strips 50 can be fabric inserts bonded With rubber. Instead of this material, however, it would also be possible to use hard rubber. Other examples of equally advantageous materials are a polyamide layer covered with chrome leather on both sides or a laminated body consisting of metal foils or metal plates layered one upon the other.

Exemplary of materials suitable for the band or strip 31 surrounding the picking stick 11 (FIGURE 2) are, in addition to leather which has already been mentioned, fabric inserts bonded with rubber or a polyamide layer covered on both sides with chrome leather.

From the foregoing description of the various embodi ments of the invention, it will be appreciated that the securing means contemplated by this invention may comprise a variety of different types of resilient or flexible members, e.g., leather or plastic straps, springs or the like, which together with a bolt, screw or like fastening device serve to resiliently couple the picking stick to a guide body in a manner heretofore described. Accordingly it will be understood that the embodiments described and illustrated in this application are merely representative of the many types of securing means that may be employed by the subject invention.

While the novel features of the invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the appended claims, it is to be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in construction and arrangement of the features shown and described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a loom having an arrangement for securing a picking stick to a guide body for controlling the reciprocal movement of the picking stick during driving and stopping of a shuttle, the improvement which comprises a securing means that provides a resilient coupling between said picking stick and said .guide body to allow movement of the picking stick outwardly from said guide body in a direction substantally transverse to the longitudinal axis of the picking stick and corresponding substantially to the direction of travel of the shuttle before being stopped by said picking stick and that also provides a connection between said picking stick and said guide body which prevents substantial movement in a direction parallel to the axis of said picking stick and which is n'gid relative to said resilient coupling whereby said securing means provides a damping action with respect to material oscillations tending to occur along said picking stick during driving and stopping of said shuttle.

2. The loom of claim 1 in which said securing means also provides a connection between said picking stick and said guide body which prevents substantial movement of the picking stick toward said guide body; the connection between said picking stick and said guide body being rigid relative to said resilient coupling.

3. The loom of claim 1 in which said securing means comprises at least one resilient body exerting a force on the lower portion of said picking stick in a direction towards the guide body.

4. The loom of claim 3 in which an intermediate layer of non-resilient material is arranged between the guide body and the picking stick, said layer being secured to one of the two and in contact with the other.

5. The loom of claim 4 in which said intermediate layer comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of leather, plastics, hardwood and hard rubber.

6. The loom of claim 4 in which said securing means includes a pin which extends through said guide member, the intermediate layer, and the picking stick; a stop disposed at one end of said pin which is adjustable along the length thereof; and a spring arranged on said pin under pressure between said guide body and the stop on said pin.

7. The loom of claim 4 in which the contacting face of said intermediate layer has at least one raised portion extending perpendicular to the axis of the picking stick that fixes the mutual position of the picking stick and thelguide body in the direction of the axis of the picking stic '8. The loom of claim 1 in which said securing means includes at least one strap of resilient material secured to said guide body which surrounds and couples said picking stick to said guide body.

9. The loom of claim 8 in which said strap is made of at least one material selected from the group consisting of leather, fabric layers bonded by rubber, chrome leather and a polyamide.

10. The loom of claim 8 in which an intermediate layer of non-resilient material is arranged between the guide body and the picking stick; said layer being secured to one of the two and in contact with the other.

11. The loom of claim 1 in which the guide body has a trough-like recess on the side adjacent to said picking stick, said securing means including a resilient lamina secured to said guide body and arranged in a plane over said recess and retaining means positioned over said recess for coupling said picking stick to said lamina in bearing contact, said retaining means being spaced from said guide body.

12. The loom of claim 11 in which said retaining means comprises a retaining member bearing against said lamina over at least -a portion of said recess.

13. The loom of claim 11 in which said resilient lamina is made up of at least one material selected from the group consisting of hard rubber, leather, fabric layers bonded with rubber, chrome-leather, polyamide and metal foils layers one upon the other.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,529,694 11/1950 Hufferd 139-149 I 2,822,827 2/1958 Moon et a1. 139149 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,100,676 4/ 1955 France.

653,120 5/ 1 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

DONALD W. PARKER, H. S. JA U DON,

Assistant Examiners. 

1. IN A LOOM HAVING AN ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING A PICKING STICK TO A GUIDE BODY FOR CONTROLLING THE RECIPROCAL MOVEMENT OF THE PICKING STICK DURING DRIVING AND STOPPING OF A SHUTTLE, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES A SECURING MEANS THAT PROVIDES A RESILIENT COUPLING BETWEEN SAID PICKING STICK AND SAID GUIDE BODY TO ALLOW MOVEMENT OF THE PICKING STICK OUTWARDLY FROM SAID GUIDE BODY IN A DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY TRANSVERSE TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE PICKING STICK AND CORRESPONDING SUBSTANTIALLY TO THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF THE SHUTTLE BEFORE BEING STOPPED BY SAID PICKING STICK AND THAT ALSO PROVIDES A CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID PICKING STICK AND SAID GUIDE BODY WHICH PREVENTS SUBSTANTIAL MOVEMENT IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF SAID PICKING STICK AND WHICH IS RIGID RELATIVE TO SAID RESILIENT COUPLING WHEREBY SAID SECURING MEANS PROVIDES A DAMPING ACTION WITH RESPECT TO MATERIAL OSCILLATIONS TENDING TO OCCUR ALONG SAID PICKING STICK DURING DRIVING AND STOPPING OF SAID SHUTTLE. 